This invention relates to antennas. In one form it relates to an antenna which is particularly suitable for, but not limited to, receiving television signals. The invention is also applicable to antennas for radio transmission and reception.
Conventional television antennas are generally quite bulky and unsightly. In order to achieve best performance, outdoor antennas are preferred, for example, roof mounted antennas. However, these can be inconvenient to mount securely, and difficult to maintain. In the event of a storm, an outdoor antenna may easily become mis-aligned, or it may suffer damage.
Indoor antennas are commonly smaller than outdoor antennas for aesthetic reasons. However, their small size limits their efficiency, which means that they are generally suitable for reception only in areas where the television signals are strong. A tuned Yagi antenna has additional elements to increase gain, but this achieves high gain only along the front-rear direction of the antenna. Thus the antenna is highly directional and is also susceptible to receiving rear-reflected signals to cause ghosting. Typically the acceptance angle of a Yagi antenna is only about 20 degrees.
A lightweight FM-VHF-UHF antenna consisting of strip conductors disposed on a flexible plastics sheet has been proposed, see GB-A-1 302 644. The antenna is in 3 sections, one having the strip conductors disposed in a log periodic array, with the other two sections having the strip conductors disposed each in a Yagi-Uda array.
The present invention is concerned with providing a generally planar antenna of improved design, of compact size yet with sufficient gain for domestic television reception.